The Queen Street Commons, PEI's Co Working site, at 224 Queen St Charlottetown, opened its doors in May 2005. We were one of 5 such sites in the entire world!

There are now nearly 800 commercial co-working facilities in the United States, up from a little more than 300 only two years ago, and about 40 in 2008, according to an annual survey by Deskmag, an online magazine that covers the co-working industry.

More than 110,000 people currently work in one of the nearly 2,500 coworking spaces available worldwide. Compared to last year, there are now 83% more coworking spaces that serve a total of 117% more members! Considering only workdays, we see 4.5 new coworking spaces have emerged daily for the past twelve months. During the same time, the number of coworking members increased by 245 people on average each work day. (Deskmag)

As a member of the QSC, you are also part of the Coworking Visa - you have the benefit of access to over 200 sites all over the world. Details here. Visiting Toronto, London, Paris, Los Angeles? You have a space and a community waiting for you.

What is going on and how might this help you?

Working at an office can be too structured. Working at home can be too lonely. You may not have a job anyway. If you are under 30, you probably don't. Same if you are over 55. So you seek to make a living. Co Working gives you the network to help. It gives you the social space to thrive in.

So are you a student with a summer clear ahead of you and want to get a feel for this kind of work and space? Maybe you have a project? Are you in your 40's and 50's and wonder how you will cope when you lose your job? have you retired but are going mad from boredom?

The benefits of coworking continue to be realized: 71% of respondents said their creativity had increased since joining, and 62% said their standard of work had improved. Countering the common claim that coworking spaces can be distracting, 68% said they were able to focus better, as compared to 12% who said the opposite. 64% said they could better complete tasks on time.

Who are the coworkers? 53% are freelancers, while the remainder are entrepreneurs, small company employees, big company employees, and 8% who describe themselves as none of the above (the proportion of "other" respondents has increased from 5% two years ago to 8%, while entrepreneuers has fallen from 18% to 14%). The proportion of female coworkers is growing, up from 32% in 2010 to 38% today.

The average number of desks and members is growing. The maximum capacity of most spaces is now 41 people, and the average membership size is 44. Desk utilization is up, from 49% to 55%, meaning spaces are being used by their members more frequently.

The majority of coworkers are so content with their workspace that they don't plan to leave. 62% said they have no plans to leave their locations, while less than 5% will stay just for one month, disproving the notion that coworking is for mobile workers only.

November 28, 2012

It's all going to be about the ecosystem. Alone we are weak - but together....

So on PEI, please set up an organization to do this. Hope is not a method and good intentions are not enough. I appeal to the PEI BioAlliance and to the Queen Street Commons to form a nucleus. This would be a great start.

You can have a job now, be a student, be on the verge of retirement, be just layed off - here is where you can find the network you need and learn how to be a human again.

I think that the Co Working Space is the "Factory" of our time. This is the social space that the Freelancer needs to combat the separation and loneliness of the solo role. This is the social space that opens us each up to the broader network. It is also the space where we learn to be a proper human again - where how we behave matters.

What they offer is a real Tribe. While the income has improved - look at all the other parts of life that are better!

They were mainly very urban. But look at how they are growing now in rural areas.

The Queen St Commons was started in 2005 - we were one of the first 5 in the world in a city of less than 35,000. We were an oddity but now are more of the new norm as rural co work grows. As more of us leave the city, the Rural Co Working spot becomes more important. Rural sites also have to have an economic model that fits - much more a co-op than a top down space rental.

Lots to learn from each other as new micro models emerge. So lots of good reasons for Co Working spaces to get connected now to each other.

The next big move I think will be connecting all the co working sites into a global network. So a member of a site in a rural village can get to London or New York or Mumbai! And then think of the power of the connections?

My new book You Don't Need a Job - explores more of the value of co working for anyone who wants to put a toe into the real new economy.

October 20, 2012

Here is my social network as created by the Mapping tool on Linkedin. It's not the 100% true picture but it looks like 90% to me. You can use their mapping tool by going here.

If I am right and we are moving to an economy that depends on our networks, then it is essential that we learn what each of our networks means and what we can do to make them healthier. So, with that in mind, let's look at mine and I will share some lessons with you.

Next week, I will post a podcast that I recorded yesterday with the Master of Networks, Valdis Krebs. Anything I know is because of him. He will go much deeper than I - so this is an introduction.

Diversity - In nature diversity is a good thing - so it is with our social networks. You can see that I am connected to a series of worlds. PEI , Public Media, Network Thinkers, Family and I have 2 outside nets of New Military Thinkers and my legacy Corporate connections.

I think that this does not look too bad - I have good links into many fields. How does your world look?

Our networks are like gardens, we can always make them better. We can always add and remove. We can always pay attention.

We can always strengthen these links. This does not mean that you randomly try and make friends. This mapping tool shows you where to be most effective. For you don't not have to work everywhere - only where it adds the most value.

Key Connectors

Lets look at inside PEI. Karen Murchison, John Morris and Cynthia King - all members of the Queen Street Commons have massive connections on PEI to artisans and freelancers. They are themselves clustered in the centre like a sun in a planetary system. The QSC is in reality a hub of the freelance and artisanal life on PEI. If you want to be a successful freelancer on PEI, the QSC is a good place to start.

There is a hierarchy in networks. The ones who are most connected and the ones who connect across networks are the most important. Where do you fit with these key people? Maybe you are one of them. Look at Will Pate in the Green on the top right. Will is an Islander who lives away and is a connector between PEI and the Network Thinkers. Will is important for PEI.

The people who connect one system to another are VERY important people.

Your key networks will share this kind of hierarchy. Important to know how it works and where you stand.

Tim Eby is such a system connector. He is not only well connected inside pub media - he was the Chair of NPR - but is well connected people who can help such as Doc Searls - who is in turn the connector into Network Thinkers. Having the Trust of people like Tim and Doc is therefore important. It is not easily gained either.

This is not a cocktail party - but your life. How you behave is key.

There are ultra close connectors - as in my case Jevon MacDonald who is like a twin to me. I don't want to piss Jevon off as he can influence most of my network. You too will have your Jevons. Pay attention to them. They are better than family.

I said that this was just an introduction, so we will stop here. Much more to come with Valdis and later with others.

So when you map your world, check these issues:

Are you happy with how diverse it is? If it is not diverse you will find it hard to use crowd sourcing etc and you will be too deep in your own echo chamber

Do you know who your key connectors are and do you care enough about them? For they give you the best access to the sub networks?

Do you know who counts the most in each network? Again this is all about leverage.

For in the real network world it is not the number of "Friends" you have but the quality of your inner circle.

Is there a better way to see your network? I think that there is. My advice, and Valdis's advice is to map out your best connections and then see how this works. Here is how you can do this using the Permaflower and Magic Numbers (Dunbar's Social Gradients). Using your Linkedin map then fill out this more personal map.

Put your 3 most important people in the centre. Then the 8. Then the 80. See how they overlap or don't. Then you can start to see where you need to pay attention.

You can then use this map to see what you need to do to fit what you need your network to be about. don't worry the work is not about sucking up.

In the podcast with Valdis we will talk a lot about "Weak Ties" and explode the myth that these are merely casual aquaintances. We will see that trust is the key. Old but good friends are very valuable to us. You don't need to talk or see them a lot but you have to maintain the trust.

Later we will explore what you have to BE rather than what you have to DO.

More on all of this in my book - You Don't Need a Job and even more in the book to come in November - You Don't Need a Banker. For when it comes to the new credit system - which is of course the OLD credit system - your reputation and your network are everything.

It's all about the kind of person you are.

The LinkedIn Tool is very easy to use and allows you to do all sorts of tests and analysis - I cannot recomend it enough. Happy exploring. You future depends on knowing more about your network.

October 10, 2012

In this short video I talk about why the more innovative children do so badly at school. They don't fit into a culture of obedience. I talk about how on PEI, where I know many of the entrepreneurs few did well at school. Many did not even graduate. But many had help - from older entrepreneurs.

Is your son or daughter one of those that do not fit in to school? Mine were.

They are not "bad" kids. They are in fact our best hope. My advice - help them to connect with others who have been though this. One way they can do this is to join a co working space. Here is the link to a global directory. These exist in many cities. On PEI there is the Queen Street Commons. Link Here.

May 25, 2012

The project is lead by Karen Murchison of the Queen St Commons and her partners at the Murphy Community Centre (Where most of the "Farm" will be) The City of Charlottetown, Cycle PEI, Holland College and the Food bank and Soup Kitchen in Charlottetown

It's a tiny project but has huge potential to make PEI more sustainable. If you want to make a difference that please help. Your help can be a few dollars or a donation of stuff.

Here is how I see this project and why I am backing them and why if you care for the future of PEI, you might help too.

It starts often like this - with a community using a barren public space to grow food as a demo. The idea is to inspire us to think differently about the urban landscape. No longer only grass, concrete and isolated trees. When we see this in downtown Charlottetown, we can imagine how different our street could be.

This is not simply a new esthetic either. In World War II 40% of the food eaten was grown by people at home - most in cities.

At the heart of this is the food and the health crisis. By making urban farming - which uses very small spaces and high intensity - important we all learn how to grow our own food. This Saturday there is a workshop on this. We meet our neigbours in a new way. We are more active and we have better nutrition.

We start to escape the trap of being dependent on Factory Food. The Food Bank becomes a hub of a network of people who help each other grow food and cook food. Growing food and making meals return as skills that most of us have lost.

This is big - isn't it? And you only have to make a small step to help.

January 19, 2012

Have you always wanted to be a writer but never had the chance/nerve/great idea that would make it happen? Or do you have that half-started Best Novel Ever stuck away in your closet awaiting the day you have the time/energy/drive to get it done? Join writer Patti Larsen for a day of Get Your Book Done 101, the Fiction Edition.

This full day course offers tips and techniques on how to get started, techniques to improve and polish your writing, exercises to stretch your talent, instruction on outlining and planning right through to completing a novel.

Participants will get the chance to not only come up with and develop an idea, but will gain valuable knowledge on how to proceed with their own great novels at home.

Patti Larsen is teaching this at the Queen Street Commons. Why should we care? I think we should care because what is happening in publishing is what happened with Blogging 10 years ago.

Then, for the first time since the advent of the printing press 600 years ago, the short form of personal publishing started to be possible for individuals. Now with Kindle etc, we are seeing the next step - the long form - the very long essay or the book can be self published into a real market easily and cheaply.

Back in those early blogging days - the technical challenge was high. Even to use Radio Weblogs at the beginning demanded that you know how to code. It is the same now with self online publishing. Tools like Scrivener and Pages enable us to use Epub. Tools like Calibre make publishing and format changing easier. Kindle make it easy to join the market.

But as with blogging then - all the tools are still a bit of a challenge. Someone will do a Wordpress and not only pull it all together but will make it easier.

The real challenge though - as with blogging - is less the technology but the culture.

I am a bibliophile. I love books. It has taken me some time to love the Kindle but now - I love it. I also love being able to share my reading socially in real time. A new kind of reading. Going from paper to Kindle is a barrier.

Also I think we will see a shift in form. We are still time pressed and we now look to the web to supplement our reading. When novels arrived, blockbusters were the thing. I suspect that we will see much more a series of essays on a topic with a larger web wrapped around them.

Patti for instance works very hard to produce series with many books that as a group develop an emerging world. I find this kind of approach attractive for me as a reader too. I am attracted to fiction writers who work like this to create worlds.

I think this will happen for non fiction too. Rather than wait for a blockbuster - I want to find non fiction writers who go deep into each part of their thesis but who keep producing as they explore and who also support their work online. For what really good idea is really finished? And if you work this way - there is room for lots of interaction along the way. So as the series emerges it broadens as well and the influence of the readers is reflected in the work.

With Kindle right now a writer like Euan Semple can see what his readers like or not immediately.

I started blogging in 2002. It was the best choice I have yet made. I have made a promise to myself to become expert in this long form extension too and I am confident that this too will work out.

Until this week the Queen Street Commons was only available to "Full Members". But now we have many ways where you can find the value of being part of the movement toward ultra small business and the ideal of "Making a Living" where having access to a network gives you more power than just being on your own.

So as well as being a full member, you can be a Network Member for a very small sum of $10 a month. See how this works above.

Need a great meeting space - you can book it for a very competitive rate.

Need just a day - you can book that too.

There is more than space involved here. We have 2 big ideas that we are working on.

For instance, today, Ann Worth is hosting a conversation on how the very very small organization can prepare to export. On PEI there are many of us who know a lot about some things and there are the rest of us who need to know this. For instance, when I started working a lot in the US, I could find no one who knew anything about the Visa regulations for my kind of work. I am now an expert and can share that knowledge.

Later we will have conversations on getting paid!! Later logistics - see what I mean. We plan to cover the full range of issues both business and personal.

The second big idea that we are working on is sharing expensive gear. You have a big presentation to make - but do you really need to own a digital projector? You need a flip chart.. you need a great video camera.. and so on. But some of us do have these things - mainly hardly used. We are looking to find a way of setting up a sharing/rental facility among the members.

The QSC is also part of a global network on Co-Working spaces. As a member, you can use other co-working spaces all over the world. So you have have access to a network in any city.

Our purpose over all is to create a network that provides practical value to the very small. More than just meeting for coffee. More than schmoozing. But finding the missing person for your project. For instance Ann is helping me on setting up a conference - one of her areas of expertise. You may need a website. You may need marketing help. You may also need kit - such as a projector. You may have a question that has to be answered - I can think of the many times that I had to call Kelly to get help on using Simply Accounting. The network is full of people who can help you directly. The network has people that need you too.

Why are we doing this? Because the old way of doing business is not working very well - if at all. The job is dying. We are being forced to look after ourselves. But alone, this is too hard. In a network we have all the value of an organization without all the bullshit and costs.

So this is why we are working to create such a network.

If we can find a way of coming together in a network, then we can do a lot more for less and have more power. We can make having a very very small business a way of making a good living. This may be the future of business and of our economy.

So check us out - please. We also need your help. We have a good idea of where to go but the HOW is the challenge - you can help design that how.

September 22, 2011

But for a solo freelancer, it can be even more challenging to build your career when you don’t have an organization behind you. You’re responsible for your own networking and creating your own opportunities.

Freelance videographer Rosa Park misses having people to bounce ideas around with, so relies heavily on her social media for interaction.

“It’s kind of lonely not having co-workers,” says Ms. Park, who works out of a tiny downtown office. “I live on Facebook and Twitter. I try to cut it down, but I can’t. It’s the only way for me to be social.”

One of the benefits of Co-Working in a palce like the Queen Street Commons is that you get back into the tribal conditions that we all crave as humans but without the office politics!

Co-Working is exploding around the world as more and more of us work as freelancers and need to be socially connected.

Here is just North America

Here is the link to the world - there is even co working in Saudi Arabia!

At the Commons, as with other co working spaces, we offer a place where you can have a professional environment - meeting rooms etc - AND interact with others who may be in very different fields than you. It is a place to get help and fellowship as well as a good place to work and to meet outsiders.

But next month we are expanding this idea of a place only to a network that extends beyond the walls.

Fellowship does not mean that we are always in the same place. It can often be the launch pad for a great quest. So what might be our great quest? Might it be to make to make the little meangingful? For who saved the world in LOR? It was a hobbit.

This is who we really are. 70% of business on PEI has less than 5 employees. What if we had a quest to make this powerful? What if we could make this the core of the economy? What if being small meant that you could make a great living? Who might then stay? Your kids? Who might then come? The kind of people who would fit PEI?

So this then is what we at the Queen Street Commons seek to do. We seek to be a catalyst for this kind of Fellowship. We will do our best to help you help yourself and those you care about make it possible to have your own "Living".

We want to make "making a living" the best way to live on PEI.

As with all quests, they start humbly with the kind of people that the Dark Lords laugh at. As with all quests, the power of the Dark Lords is real and immense. Tolkien wrote LOR as a response to the industrialization of the world. That is what we are up against.

But rather than rail against the system, why not build a new one? The Industrial system was strong in Tolkien's day - but it is so weak now. This is surely the time?

Every quest starts with a few people and has to start with a few steps. In the next month, I will tell you about what few steps we intend to take. I hope that you might like to join us.